Mega-donor Paul Singer headlines fundraiser for women

Hedge fund executive and Republican megadonor Paul Singer is among the headliners of an event for four female Senate candidates through Winning Women, a series he helped found aimed at boosting the ranks of GOP women in Congress.

Singer is the main host for the Sept. 14 event in New York City, and his co-hosts on the invitation include a number of allies or fellow major donors, including financier Cliff Asness and his wife, Laurel, former Senate hopeful Linda McMahon of Connecticut, and Singer’s longtime fundraising adviser, Annie Dickerson.

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The event will raise money for female Republican Senate candidates Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Terri Lynn Land of Michigan and Monica Wehby of Oregon, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by POLITICO.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H), who is not facing reelection this year, is a featured guest.

“This will represent the NE/tri-state effort on behalf of the leading women candidates for the U.S. Senate this cycle,” Singer wrote in an email to potential attendees. “Thus far, there are 10 cities and their co-hosts participating in a nationwide effort alongside us from Los Angeles to Atlanta in support of these candidates.”

He added, “You may have heard me mention before — but it bears repeating — that the GOP caucus is only made up of 8% women while the Dems claim 30% in their ranks. A group of us is trying to do something about this imbalance by helping to elect more women to the U.S. Senate. With this crop of women, we get more diversity in our caucus and quality leadership.”

The email asks people to max out to each candidate with a $2,600 donation.

Launched earlier this year, the initial Winning Women joint fundraising committee focused first on a trio of House candidates. The Senate iteration was the next step in a multipronged effort by Singer to impact the face and dynamic of his party in the cycle after a devastating 2012 presidential campaign and Senate losses for the GOP.

Winning Women’s House committee has steered money to House hopefuls Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Martha McSally of Arizona and Elise Stefanik in upstate New York.